A Ghastly Success

Rating: 8/10 (7 July 2003)

This zombie film is a fun little thriller, and is one of the first zombie films in a long time not to play things for laughs. While hilarious films such as RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD and BRAIN DEAD aka DEAD ALIVE certainly have their place, the trend of going for dark humor with the unstated belief that the genre was otherwise played out is aptly refuted by this no-nonsense film.
While tipping its hat to classic horror/post-Apocalyptic films such as DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS and THE WORLD, THE FLESH AND THE DEVIL (not to mention the Romero trilogy), the film is also a distinguished benchmark in horror cinema as the first important post-9/11 fright fest. The film is amazingly prescient in that, although it was actually filmed during the summer prior to 9/11, it so accurately encompasses so many of the fears that traumatic event let loose.
It is impossible to look at the masses of photos of missing loved ones on the walls in abandoned London in this film and not be reminded of the same in the days following the World Trade Center disaster. The viral plague that is let loose on England in this film is horrifying in many other ways.

Not only is the thought of any nation as an island susceptible to a virus capable of turning humans into mad, flesh-consuming beasts horrifying in and of itself, this film works on other levels. In that the world we currently live in is one of spooky nightly news telecasts of SARS and monkey pox and seemingly new endless contagions, it is impressive how far out ahead of the curve the production of this film was.
Also, the reconstruction of the zombie mythology whereby rather than being slow, lumbering living dead, these zombies actually move about like sprinters, sometimes merely being seen as a blur, is a radical departure from what we are used to and all the more horrifying for it.

Finally, it is also incredibly heartening that Danny Boyle has recaptured his roots as viewed in SHALLOW GRAVE and hopefully forsaken crass blockbuster projects such as THE BEACH.